Kearsney celebrates rugby win against Northwood

KEARSNEY College faced off against Northwood in rugby and hockey at the weekend.

Northwood hosted Kearsney as part of its annual FNB Classic Clash. Kearsney faced a head wind and decided to keep the ball in hand. It paid off quickly, as left winger Robbie Koenig scored in the third minute when he received the ball and masterfully put a grubber kick through. He showed a good turn of pace to collect a favourable bounce in the in-goal area, with fly half Jacques Odendaal converting from close to the touch line.

Northwood fought back and, after a series of attacking play, Kearsney prop Matt Heard received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Northwood could not capitalise on the situation other than a penalty for a Kearsney lead of 7 nil.

In the final minute of the half, Northwood scrummie, under immense pressure, kicked the ball into one of his own upright poles and Kearsney prop Heard collected the ricochet, to dot down for a somewhat bizarre try. The half time score was 12-3 to the visitors.

Heard made a big impact on his return from the sin bin and opened the scoring in the second half when he received an inside pass from Odendaal, following another line break. Odendaal converted from close to the upright, for Kearsney to lead 19-3.The next try came from the ever-present eighthman and captain Dylan Richardson after another of his bullocking runs. Odendaal converted from the touch line, showing excellent form in the strong wind.

Kearsney attacked at will from then on and winger Reece Daniel scored in the right hand corner after some good interplay between forwards and backs. Richardson was soon back on the scoreboard from a heel against the head scrum and Odendaal converted for a convincing 38-3 lead.

The final try was scored by deserving lock Ross Taylor receiving a pop pass from centre Grant Sander, for Odendaal to convert. The match was slightly marred by many stoppages due to injuries and poor handling by the visitors.

Outstanding players for Kearsney were Odendaal, Taylor, Richardson, Sutherland and Heard.

Hockey

In the first hockey fixture of the season, Kearsney travelled to Northwood for an expected challenging game, having lost a lot of senior players last year. The current squad went through an intense pre-season phase.

The game was played in very hot conditions, which did not stop a high tempo. Both teams started off at a frantic pace and Kearsney were able to find the opening goal through vice-captain Luke de Vlieg who finished off with a fantastic reverse stick shot into the bottom corner.

Kearsney remained in front for most of the game, with both teams creating good scoring opportunities. With nine minutes to go, Northwood scored two quick goals to turn the game around and go 2-1 up.

This didn’t break the Kearsney boys who came straight back and scored two quick goals themselves, through Ben Proctor and Steven Conway, to make the game 3-2 in Kearsney’s favour with four minutes remaining on the clock.

The game seemed to be heading in Kearsney’s direction until Northwood won a penalty corner with three seconds left on the clock; and they went on to convert to tie the game at 3-3 at the final whistle.

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